'Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar's Revenge' Review: Somewhat entertaining, yet, still at sea about what's happening

Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar's Revenge
Dir: Joachim Rønning & Espen Sandberg
Cast: Johnny Depp, Javier Bardem, Brenton Thwaites, Kaya Scodelario, Geoffrey Rush
Rating: **1/2

What's it about:

What is any Pirates... movie about. Jack Sparrow (Depp) getting into trouble and requiring saving by an assortment of friends, allies and grey characters. Ever the loner, he's WANTED (yes, in capital letters) by the British Empire, (in this one) an undead enemy who goes by the name Armando Salazar (Bardem), who wants revenge (that much is apparent from the title, no?).

With a little help from old friends' (remember Orlando Bloom's Will and Keira Knightley's Elizabeth Turner) son Henry (Thwaites) and Carina Smyth (Scodelario), he seeks out 'treasure': in this case, the famed Poseidon's trident.

Does the gang reach their destination and get away with it?

What's hot:

Bardem's made something of a career playing menacing characters. His mere presence on screen in any avatar is enough to drive fear into even the best of men. Rønning and Sandberg recognise and utilise this well.

Depp's playing a character he's played in four films prior, for close to a decade and a half. By now, that familiarity brings with it a brand recall that doesn't hurt.

What's not:

There's only so long a sea-weary pirate who drowns himself in rum can fool himself and others into following him anywhere (maybe longer, if you go by that one banter in the film where a pirate's IQ is discussed). But then again, these pirate crews don't know any better. The 'British empire', self-styled 'rulers of the seas' keep riding the coattails of the pirates they manage to capture and conversing with a sea witch (the grossly underutilised Golshifteh Farahani) to get any work done. And this is getting too boring, all this cat-and-mouse. Too tired, all these sad gags (no pants, execution escapes, shotgun weddings) and innuendo that makes you wonder if grown men are writing the script. Over-dependence on CGI to salvage a franchise long past its sell-by date might be savvy with the li'l 'uns. Not with the grown-ups.

What to do:

Really hope this is the end of the franchise, despite it being a stronger outing than On Stranger Tides. Don't want it becoming another Rocky or Rambo swansong. Somewhat entertaining, and yet, still at sea about what's happening. You can go on for the ride, but the franchise won't hold your thrall like it once did.